A robotic prostate surgery is a new technology used to remove a prostate gland that is cancerous. Read on to know the various advantages and disadvantages of this procedure…
A robotic prostatectomy is a surgery where a cancerous prostate gland is removed by making minimal (keyhole) incisions with high precision, with the help of robotic equipment. Given below is a comparison of this procedure with other contemporary prostatectomy procedures.
Advantages
One of the main advantages of a robotic prostatectomy is the fact that since it is a minimally invasive procedure, the patient usually suffers much less pain and less amount of scarring. Furthermore, this is an especially good option for people who have low hemoglobin levels or who are hypovolemic, as there is less blood loss as compared to traditional surgery. Also, the time for which the patient needs to stay in the hospital is significantly less in the case of a robotic prostatectomy. Hence, he can return to his routine activities quicker than traditional methods.
Disadvantages
On the downside, there have been a few stray reports of people complaining of side effects such as incontinence and sexual problems after undergoing this surgery. However, the fact is that for a person to be able to really judge whether or not his sexual health has been adversely affected, he will need to wait a while to attain normal erections again after the surgery. These possible side effects also depends on various factors such as age, emotional health, type of partner, any complications that may have risen during the surgery, etc.
One of the main factors that works against robotic prostatectomy is its cost. It could cost up to 2000 USD. The reason why the cost is higher than traditional surgery is the extra equipment required. Furthermore, there are still a lot of surgeons that prefer the old-school method, or at least have reverted to using laparoscopic surgery or laser prostate surgery because they are not comfortable with the huge machinery involved.
It might come as a shock to you, but just last year, around 85% of the patients who underwent a prostatectomy, went for the robotic option. Hence, this technology is slowly catching up.
